The following review contains major spoilers for Episode 6 of The Last of Us.
In the past six weeks, The Last of Us has established itself as a character-driven story set in a post-apocalyptic world. It is clear at this point that this is a tale of human connection and emotions. Joel and Ellie’s journey highlights these aspects, with each episode beautifully contributing toward their connection. The sixth episode of the HBO series humanizes the main characters, deepens their bond, and leaves viewers with the most agonizing cliffhanger in the series so far.
After a brilliant episode of The Last of Us last week, which narrated the tragic story of brothers Henry and Sam, it was obvious that the focus would shift toward Joel and Ellie’s journey forward. After facing several challenges in their mission to find Joel’s estranged brother Tommy, the duo and the viewers deserved an apt pay-off. That’s exactly what this episode has to offer, and so much more.
This week’s episode of The Last of Us brings to the forefront one of the main emotions that humans experience: fear. For anyone living in a post-apocalyptic world, fear is perhaps the most common emotion. The fear of being discovered and killed by an infected or the fear of running into raiders would be on top of the list. The Last of Us adds Clickers and Bloaters to the mix. However, this week took viewers back to the first episode of The Last of Us where Joel experiences the fear of losing a loved one. At that point it was his daughter Sarah, but after five weeks, it is now Ellie.
As Henry and Sam’s story played out in Episode 5 of The Last of Us, viewers knew that it was bound to have an impact on Joel and Ellie’s relationship moving forward. This week’s episode sees the two conversing a little more effortlessly, with the bond that they share clearly having strengthened over time. Bella Ramsey’s performance as Ellie is commendable, as she switches between genuine curiosity about Joel’s past life to cracking jokes about him being “the contractor.” It becomes obvious that all that the past five episodes have covered was crucial in bringing the two characters closer together.
While Ellie has expressed a mix of emotions in the past six weeks, it is Joel who has built a wall around himself. However, the circumstances and Ellie have been bringing down that wall piece by piece, and this week sees Joel’s fears rise to the surface. Pedro Pascal delivers his best performance as Joel in the series so far when he expresses the raw emotions of a man who has lost everything once already, and fears that he will repeat the same mistakes again. When the unfazed couple they meet in the middle of nowhere tell Joel about the “river of death,” he experiences a panic attack, which makes him seem much more human than he has in the past. When a group of survivors surrounds Joel and Ellie with guns, and a hound who will “tear them up” if it senses an infection, the protagonist looks scared to death. He isn’t a cold, brutal man anymore, and is instead slowly becoming the fatherly figure he was to Sarah in the prologue.
When Joel reunites with his brother Tommy, the wall comes shattering down. Finding out that Tommy has started a new life, gotten married, and has a child on the way should have been a happy update for Joel, but in that moment all he is reminded of is how he failed to protect his own daughter Sarah. Experiencing another panic attack when he thinks he spotted Sarah in the community, Joel is ready to bare it all.
“You think I can still handle things, but I’m not who I was. I’m weak,” Joel tells Tommy in tears. Since Episode 4 of The Last of Us, when Joel and Ellie run into a group of hunters in Kansas City, there have been many moments where the series focused on how Joel is slowly losing grip on the situation. He first gets attacked by a young hunter, who Ellie has to shoot. Later, he is unable to hear Henry and Sam walk into the room where he and Ellie are hiding, because he has lost his hearing in one ear. And this week sees him falling asleep while he should be on watch. All of these moments are adding to his fear of failing Ellie, just like he did Sarah.
He talks to Tommy about having dreams; all he remembers is waking up and feeling like he has lost something. “I’m failing in my sleep. It’s all I do. It’s all I’ve ever done... is fail her,” he says, referring to Sarah and the moment she was killed. This sequence is by far the most emotion that Joel has shown since Sarah’s death, and it will tug at the heartstrings of all those watching. If viewers felt disconnected to Joel up to this point, this week’s episode will jumpstart that connection once again, especially when Joel and Ellie share a moment where their father-daughter bond finally comes to the forefront.
Ellie has put on a brave face so far, but when she discovers Joel’s plan, even her facade cracks. “Everybody I have cared for has either died or left me,” she tells him. “Everybody... except you. So don’t tell me that I’d be safe with someone else because the truth is I would just be more scared.” These words and this week’s entire episode reiterate that this series has been about the bond between characters and human emotions. The infected add to the story, but aren’t and will never be the main focus. Unfortunately, the episode ends with no clue of what the future holds as Joel gets attacked once again, this time leading to him being stabbed. While the duo manage to escape their attackers, the episode ends with Joel becoming unconscious as he bleeds out.
Most of this week’s episode is perfectly paced. There are enough moments for the main characters to bond, share stories, and joke around. Even though some new characters are introduced, Pascal and Ramsey are the stars of the episode with outstanding performances as Joel and Ellie. The cinematography is exceptional once again, with some fantastic shots of the vast outdoors. However, there is just one issue in the episode, which lies in the last few minutes. After Joel and Ellie head off further West to find the Fireflies, the pacing goes haywire. The ending felt rushed, and the editing was slightly choppy. It seemed like the showrunners had decided on the cliffhanger, but couldn’t agree upon the best route to get there.
The Last of Us airs Sunday nights at 9:00 PM EST on HBO. Episodes are streaming on HBO Max.